Bed bugs are relatively small insects, approximately ¼ inch long and less than ¼ inch wide that feed on the blood of animals, including humans. They have piercing-sucking mouthparts (similar to a mosquito) that mandate the way they consume blood from their hosts. The species Cimex Lectularus is the most common worldwide.
Bed bug infestations typically originate by bed bugs being carried to a new location. Bed bugs are able to cling onto objects and hide in small spaces so they may be easily transported in travelers' belongings. As a result, locations such as hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, apartments, military barracks, dormitories, cruise ships, movie theaters, and other buildings with relatively high turnover are more vulnerable to bed bug infestations. Although once eradicated in the United States by the use of DDT and other chemicals no longer in use, the increase of international travel has contributed to the resurgence of bed bugs in the United States.
Bed bugs can live for relatively long periods of time without feeding. Therefore, infestations are not likely to be eliminated simply by leaving a location unoccupied for an extended period of time. Bed bugs are typically active at night and primarily hide during the day in tiny cracks or crevices. Bed bugs may establish harborage in furniture, along baseboards, in upholstery, in carpeting, and in countless other places. Multiple stages of bed bugs often aggregate in groups but do not divide labor among individuals (as in a caste system) similar to some social insect species.
There are many aspects of bed bug biology that make them difficult to eradicate once they have established a presence in a location. The present invention addresses the problems associated with the prior art devices and provides for an effective bait station.